The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz: A review

The Girl in the Spider's Web (Millennium, #4)

The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As all the reading universe knows, Swedish author Stieg Larsson died before his three books featuring "The Girl" were published and so he never knew what blockbusters the books became. Sad.

Sad, too, were the fans of those books who realized that there would never be another one, but soon the clamor began to find an author to carry on the series. Larsson's brother and father, who, under Swedish law, controlled his estate rather than his domestic partner of many years whom he never married, at length decided to pursue the possibility of continuing the series. They chose another Swedish journalist, David Lagercrantz, to carry it on. Thus, now, more than ten years after Larsson's death, his creation, Lisbeth Salander, lives again in The Girl in the Spider's Web.

But readers dreaming of encountering an exact replica of Larsson's Salander in this book will probably be disappointed with it. Lagercrantz is a very different writer and, frankly, I found some of his prose a bit turgid and overwrought. Moreover, his device of ending every chapter on a cliffhanger began to irritate me a bit after a while. Nevertheless, overall, it was a good reading experience, and, after a bit of a slow start, he certainly kept me turning those pages.

The plot, as usual with these books, is rather complicated, but, of course, the main element of it is the world of hackers - the good hackers vs. the bad hackers. The good hackers, naturally, are the group with which Salander is associated. Though they get off on invading the privacy of corporations and government agencies (including the NSA) right around the world, they do not do it with evil intent. They are interested in righting wrongs and correcting injustices.

On the other side of the equation is a group known as the Spiders and these guys are pure evil. Surprisingly, Lisbeth's twin sister, Camilla, is a part of the Spiders, so we not only have good vs. evil but also twin vs. twin. This does not become apparent, however, until fairly late in the book.

The tale begins with a Swedish professor who had divorced his wife and left his son in her care to take a job with a Silicon Valley tech firm. There, he worked on a project involving self-learning artificial intelligence. But at a certain point, he becomes concerned about his son, who is autistic and mute, and he abandons his job in California and returns to Sweden. He goes to his ex-wife's home and tells her he wants to take custody of their son. She gives him up without an argument.

The professor tries without much luck to connect with his eight-year-old son. He then receives a warning that his life may be in danger and that bad guys may try to steal his research on AI. Alarmed, he contacts journalist Mikael Blomkvist, thinking that if he goes public with some of his research, there will be no reason to attack him. As Blomkvist arrives at the man's apartment to meet with him, a dark figure comes rushing out, and he finds the professor shot to death and his terrified son in shock.

The plot really takes off at this point. Things had not been going well for Bloomkvist and his friends at Millenium magazine, but suddenly he finds himself sitting on top of a huge story that could possibly put him back on top and reverse the fortunes of the magazine. He needs the help of a hacker to get the information he needs for his story, so who's he gonna call? Lisbeth Salander, of course!

My favorite parts of the book were when Lagercrantz was writing about Salander and about the autistic child, August. He seemed to have a real feeling for them. I thought the Bloomkvist parts were less successful, but then I've never been a big Bloomkvist fan. I could never understand why all those beautiful women wanted to tear their clothes off and throw themselves at him whenever they see him.

It turns out that August is a savant whose special abilities are in the world of mathematics and drawing. He is able to draw scenes that he has glimpsed for only a moment, right down to their smallest detail. Bad news for the guy who killed his father while August watched in terror. And bad news for August when the bad guys realize this.

But never mind! Lisbeth Salander is on the job. She connects with August because he reminds her of herself, and it turns out that they do have a lot in common. Salander is one of the good guys whose numerous tattoos and piercings cover a heart of gold and she will protect August come hell or Spiders.

All in all, this was a worthy successor to Larsson. I wonder if there will be more?

View all my reviews

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

Search This Blog